Best Deal Today
When it comes to buying a new TV on a budget, where do you start? While we’d think everybody starts by carefully reading TV reviews and buying guides of the best TVs under $500, some just type “best cheap TV” right into Amazon and scroll through the results. If you do, you’re most likely to encounter the Insignia NS-32F201NA26, part of Insignia’s F20 Series of Fire TVs. If your budget is tight or you just need the most affordable, small-size 32-inch TV, you can immediately click “add to cart”; otherwise, you might want to shop around a bit more.
The Insignia Class F20 Series generally delivers decent overall picture quality, but it comes with a few tradeoffs that are typical of budget TVs and electronics as a whole. Beyond the basic feature set and port options, the TV’s build quality and Fire TV experience are quite robust. If you like Amazon’s Fire TV platform over Roku TV, you might want to overlook the concessions in picture quality.
But if you’re looking for the best picture quality in this price range and your wallet can extend a little, alongside one of our favorite smart platforms, you should really check out the TCL Amazon Fire TV 2-Series or the TCL 32S350R instead.
About the Insignia Class F20 Series
Insignia has been releasing or reiterating its Class F20 Series for the last several years, and often these TVs can be found on sale at any given time. This often makes shopping a little confusing.
While you can save some money by buying the models from previous years, you should be doing that purposefully. Luckily, there’s an easy way to know which model you’re buying by using the model’s name. The last two numbers of the SKU, o model name, designate the year after the year the TV was manufactured. So, for instance, if you see “NS-32F201NA26,” it means that it’s a 32-inch F20 series model manufactured in 2025.
Here are the specs on our review model:
- Resolutions: 720p 1,366 x 768 pixels
- LED backlight type: Direct Lit
- LCD panel type: VA
- HDR support: No
- Dolby Atmos support: Yes, via HDMI ARC over DD+ (no native decoding)
- eARC support: No
- Native refresh rate: 60Hz
- Color depth: 8-bit
- Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support: No
- Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) support: No
- Other features: Alexa Voice Remote included
The Insignia TV is affordable, but it doesn’t come with some useful features you’ll find on higher-end TVs. The standout feature is the Fire TV platform, which is just a built-in version of Amazon’s Fire TV streaming device.
Insignia Class F20 Series: Connectivity
The Insignia Class F20 consists of budget TVs, so it gets equally basic connectivity options, clearly labeled in two separate coves on the rear of the TV. They include:
- 3 x HDMI 2.0 inputs (1 HDMI ARC)
- USB port
- RF (coaxial) input
- LAN (Ethernet) input
- Headphone/analog audio jack
- Digital optical audio out
- Composite (AV) input
Still, considering the TV’s price, that’s some decent connectivity, especially the standard HDMI ARC connection. That’s great news if you already own or are planning to invest in a soundbar. It’s worth noting that you aren’t getting HDMI 2.1 inputs, which may be important for gamers with the latest game consoles, and the TV doesn’t have any features these ports would support, such as VRR or high-bandwidth frame rates, so it’s not necessary.
What we like
Sturdy, clean design
Not a lot has gone into Insignia Fire TV’s design. It’s just a simple, inexpensive TV. It sports a dark plastic case that doesn’t breathe any air of prestige or luxury like pricier TVs do. And unlike many newer (and more expensive) TVs, it maintains a fairly thick half-inch bezel around the edge. But for a budget TV, it isn’t an eyesore, either. The screen stands on a pair of V-shaped feet that face inward, holding it up very stably.
Included is a Fire TV remote that is customized for TVs, which is a bit larger and more complex than the common voice remote included with Amazon Fire TV media streamers. The design remains the same, though, a slim black plastic wand with a prominent glossy black circular navigation pad.
Just above the pad, there are three menu buttons, and another three playback buttons sit below the pad, with the power and microphone buttons sitting on the top of the remote near a pinhole mic.
Decent contrast and picture of the money
This Insignia TV could look a lot worse for what you’re paying. However, as LED/LCD TVs go, the NS-32F201NA23 is pretty standard, delivering enough brightness for the average room, acceptable black levels, and decent enough color. The content looks good, especially when you’re primarily streaming from Netflix or Disney+.
For the F20 series, Insignia uses a VA-style LCD panel with a full-array LED backlight, but it doesn’t have local dimming, which is available in high-end models like the Hisense U7G, which has 72 local dimming zones.
Even with the limited color range on the Insignia NS-32F201NA26, BBC’s Life Story looks vivid and very detailed. You can easily pick fine details like fur and leaves at very sharp detail, with colors looking natural and balanced. Only that they aren’t as vivid as they are on the Hisense U8G QLED TV.
The TCL Series 6 is an equally great alternative, only that it comes in two models: 55-inch and 65-inch. Thus, if you’re looking for a small home TV that doesn’t cost a fortune, the 32-inch Amazon 2-Series and the 32-inch Insignia NS-32F201NA26 are among the best choices you can find right now.
Alexa is great, but picture quality is basic – not a dealbreaker for the price, though
Fire TV and Alexa work great
For you to get the most out of Fire TV features, you’ll need to sign in with your Amazon account, which is typical of Fire TV streamers, which are built around using your account for transactions like purchasing the app and renting media. However, on the Insignia Fire TV Edition, you don’t need an Amazon account to use the TV. There is an optional Basic mode that lets you use the TV as a TV, without access to most streaming features in the interface, but providing access to the TV’s varied inputs.
Still, most of us would want to use our Amazon account to access the full features of the Insignia Fire TV Edition, bearing in mind how robust it is as a smart TV platform. For instance, it lets you access most streaming services, including Amazon Video and Music, Hulu, Netflix, Sling TV, Spotify, and Twitch. Curiously, Google Play Movies & TV as well as Google Play Music are absent, and YouTube loads only via the Firefox or Silk web browsers.
Not surprising at all, while the Fire TV OS is ideally based on Android, rarely do you see Amazon and Google get along much on content. The Fire TV includes access to the Alexa voice assistant, which you can easily use on the Insignia Fire TV Edition by pressing the microphone button on the remote and speaking into it. Sure, it may not be as hands-free as the Echo or Echo Spot, but it’s still functional out of the box with the press of a button.
What we don’t like
Middling color production
The Insignia NS-32F201NA26 isn’t the most colorful TV you can buy. The slightly pricier TCL 3-Series measures 96% color volume, meaning it produces almost 100% of the “standard” color space (usually called sRGB in monitors and Rec 709 in TVs). On the other hand, the Insignia F20 only measures closer to 85% sRGB color volume.
The shift in color production is not easily visible during viewing, especially on elements like colored parrots and big blue skies, but is evident on content that’s semi-colorful, like stretches of desert landscape or brown-green fields of grass.
Is it a deal-breaker? For most folks who need a basic TV, probably not, but it’s worth being aware of. You can get better color production from the TCL 3-Series pr Amazon Fire TV 2-Series.
Also, the F20 Series is a bit brighter than some competitors, but its emphasis on blue within the overall RGB balance makes for inconsistent black levels depending on the scene’s brightness.
Insignia Class F20 Series Review (NS-32F201NA26): Bottom line
Insignia did a lot with this TV. A 32-inch Fire TV for under $100 is something anyone looking for a TV in that class will not think twice before adding to the cart. And if you’re tuned into the Amazon Alexa ecosystem, you’ll find terrific value here, especially the clean, unpixelated look and voice-command-ready functionality of the Fire TV platform you get with this TV.
And if this is your ideal size/price range, though, you should be sure if this is what you really want and consider your viewing environment and overall priorities before you buy. If all you want is the Fire TV experience and Alexa compatibility, the Insignia Class F20 Series won’t let you down. Getting the full Alexa voice command experience tuned right into the remote is more than anybody would ask for at this price. You can find Alexa functionality on competing budget TVs, but they usually require a separate smart speaker to work as needed.
However, if you’re trying to score the best picture possible for the money, especially if you like to watch in dim, movie night environments, you should consider buying the TCL Amazon Fire TV 2-Series or the TCL 32S350R instead. Both offer better picture composition out-of-the-box, and deliver a bit more color saturation. But if your budget can’t extend more, the 32-inch Insignia Class F20 Series is a great budget TV.
Price Comparison
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